Between my book publication dates and subsequent convention appearances, the past four weeks have gone by in a blur, hence the lack of progress reports on my outlining. Perhaps more significantly, however, I got my first feedback from beta-readers on The Merchant of Dreams at the beginning of April, which gave me much food for thought. As a result I’ve done a lot more character development across the two books and have had to rethink some of the events of The Prince of Lies.
In a nutshell, my betas pinpointed some issues with the female characters that backed up some concerns I had had, so it was back to the drawing board for their character arcs. As a result, Coby has a much stronger role in Book 3, and a certain other character’s motivations and plans have become more subtle.
On the downside, it means my outline has needed a lot of work and is thus a bit behind schedule, but both books will benefit from the changes so I’m not too worried. One more convention to enjoy this weekend, then it’s nose to the grindstone once more!
